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If the alcohol poisoning is extreme, the patient can go into a coma and potentially die.

This article focuses on the medical aspects of alcohol poisoning, rather than other environmental dangers of alcohol abuse such as getting into fights, losing possessions, or having problems with the law.

Treatment for alcohol poisoning

Alcohol poisoning is a significant medical condition. It requires immediate treatment if suspected.

If a person is thought to have alcohol poisoning, an ambulance should be called. Before the ambulance arrives, the following assistance should be given:

try to keep the individual awake

try to keep them in a sitting position, not lying down - if they do lie down, turn their head to the side

if they can take it, give them water

if the person is unconscious, put them in the recovery position and check they are breathing

do not give them coffee; caffeine will worsen the dehydration

do not lie them on their back

do not give them any more alcohol to drink

do not make them walk

In the hospital, depending on the patient's BAC level and severity of signs and symptoms, staff may just monitor them until their alcohol levels gradually drop. However, depending on the severity of symptoms, other treatments may include:

in some cases, the patient's stomach may be pumped - fluids are flushed through a tube that goes down their mouth or nose

If the person - who may sometimes be a child - has unintentionally drunk methanol or isopropyl alcohol and has alcohol poisoning they may need dialysis to speed up the removal of toxins from their system.

What causes alcohol poisoning?

College drinkers are statistically the most at risk of alcohol poisoning.

When somebody consumes an alcoholic drink, their liver has to filter out the alcohol, a toxin, from their blood.

We absorb alcohol much more quickly than food - alcohol gets to our bloodstream much faster.

However, the liver can only process a limited amount of alcohol; approximately one standard drink of alcohol every hour.

If a person drinks two in 1 hour, there will be an extra drink's worth of alcohol in the bloodstream. If during the next hour, the person consumes another two drinks, they will have two standard drink's worth of alcohol floating around in their bloodstream 2 hours after the drinking session.

The faster someone drinks, the higher the BAC becomes. Rapid drinking can bring BAC so high that mental and physical functions are negatively affected. If BAC is high enough, physical functions such as breathing and the gag reflex (that prevents people from choking) can be affected.

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